


Lonely on New Year?

by whythefujamievenonthis



Category: Holby City
Genre: Cute, Dofty, Fluffy Ending, Gay, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-21
Updated: 2017-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-18 00:57:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13089087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whythefujamievenonthis/pseuds/whythefujamievenonthis





	Lonely on New Year?

Weeks had passed since the shooting. But everything felt like it was stuck, like a scratched CD sticking in a CD player. Nothing felt like it was progressing or changing - besides the front covers of the papers and never ending stream of staff leaving through the Hospital’s front doors (seemingly to never come back). As the days turned colder, as noses and fingertips seemed to form into icicles, as the sky darkened blacker and blacker as time progressed; the only thing that made sense was work. Work and no play - that had become Dom’s life motto. He never did take a single day off after the shooting; no chance to cry after the funerals, not a single second was spent reliving the past. No, if he did that, the cycle would start again; a cycle that he never again wanted to fall back into.

 

He wanted to believe he was getting better.

 

Lofty did take time off, after Fredrik was killed, he took the rest of the afternoon off. He seemed shaken, like he’d realised just how close he was to losing himself or some one he held dear… The next day he came back tired looking, weary, like he hadn’t slept the previous night. But he was still his usual bubbly and Lofty self, making the still shaken staff at least show glimmers of smiles, which seemed to relieve Dom: if Lofty could make everyone feel better then they may not want to leave, and if they didn’t leave the hospital wouldn’t be under further threat from the staffing crisis. Weeks went by, Lofty seemed to boost morale, certainly a lot more than Dom did - who seemed to return to his cold and morose self. It wasn’t really him of course, the real him was much nicer and shiny looking, but if being morose meant he could put up a wall to block people out, then he had no issue with being that way.

 

So how was Lofty _always_ able to knock that wall down?

 

Essie returned to work four weeks after the shooting, she pretended to be fine for the first few hours of her shift back. But as expected, she broke down eventually, turning to Dom and Lofty for support. As she cried in the staff room she allowed the warmth from Dom and Lofty’s hands to thaw out her cold and numb fingertips, she allowed herself to break, and she allowed Dom and Lofty to watch her cry. They didn’t mind though, they knew she was hurting badly, Dom knew more than anyone what it was like to lose someone close. Lofty knew how to give good hugs though, so the two of them were able to help Essie as much as they could. Things seemed to brighten up a bit when Jason had found Essie’s wedding ring, when he offered it to her she took it out of his hand and began kissing it, as if she could get him back by doing so (or at least feel Raff close to her again). After her ring was back and firmly on her finger, Essie’s mood seemed lifted, almost relieved as she went about her working day. She noticed how close Dom and Lofty had become since the incident: Lofty always going out of his way to make Dom laugh or smile, and Dom always making sure Lofty was his nurse for every patient he treated (and no one else’s).

 

In the days leading up to New Years, the trio worked hard on treating patients, Lofty was particularly gifted with kids so Essie and Dom left him to manage them whilst they treated the patient, or if the kid was the patient Lofty made sure they kept calm and still whilst Dom and Essie worked on them. During these says Dom managed to text back and forth regularly to Zosia, and it made him very happy to be able to do so. In between texting and working, Dom and Lofty grew close again, neither of them even noticed how close they had actually become - it just felt so natural. Dom felt so at ease talking to Lofty, of course his heart would race from time to time, but his feelings had matured into something much more serious than puppy love. Of course Lofty was the exact same, he felt slightly guilty about his feelings, but he wasn’t prepared to admit how he felt, not after what happened at the elevator _and_ the staircase. Still, the past didn’t deter the two from talking to each other at every opportunity, which Essie had quickly become aware of. She wanted to keep quiet though, and see if they would naturally form a relationship together, she knew she couldn’t butt in on getting them together (even if she really wanted to).

 

Eventually it was the day of New Year’s Eve, Dom and Lofty and Essie were all on shift, but were due to clock off just before midnight. It was an early morning start and late night finish that none of them were particularly looking forward to - but they were all secretly thankful that it at least kept them from being alone and indoors. Lofty was down on AAU as an extra pair of hands till lunch, after which he’d go back to working on Keller. After Lofty was back, Essie was with a patient when she saw Dom and Lofty laughing and chatting on the staff desk (it looked like flirting more than anything else), and she smiled as she realised what they were on the cusp of becoming. Little did she know just how involved she’d have to become. At one point Lofty had to go retrieve lab tests, so with Lofty was gone Essie took her chance to talk to Dom as they walked back to the staff desk:

 

“So when’s the wedding?” She joked.

 

“What?”

“You and Lofty!”

 

“Don’t be silly.”

“Come on Dom don’t act dumb, you two are flirting with each other all the time!”

 

“It’s not like that.”

“Then how is it?”

 

“It’s… It’s complicated.”

“Not really. You like him, he likes you, you both need to get a grip and just get together.”

 

“He doesn’t want that!”

 

“And how do you know?”

“He pretty much told me. Look, the thing is, we have a bit of history together. We slept together at Zosia’s wedding, and I basically called it off before we would become anything more. Since then it’s been a back and forth of getting closer and being pulled apart again.”

 

“Right… So that’s your excuse?”

 

“It’s not an excuse! He told me we should forget about our past together, that he feels like the universe is trying to tell us it’s not gonna work.”

 

“The universe?” Repeated Essie, unconvinced.

 

“Look, he’s not wrong. Literally, every chance where we would’ve started dating, something went wrong or something got in the way.”

 

“You still like him though.”

 

“Is it that obvious?”

 

“Hun, it’s about as obvious as the nose on my face. And it’s obvious he still likes you too.”

“I doubt it.”

 

“Well try not doubting it, and just go for it! I say you should take that leap of faith and tell him how you feel!”

 

“Essie…”

 

“Dom. Look around you, you need to hold on to what you can.”

 

Dom seemed to stop and think for a moment, allowing Essie’s words to sink in, and he realised just how right she was: he did have to take a chance and go for it. How else would he get anywhere in life? He took that risk with his application for the junior doctor award, he took that risk kissing Lofty first (on multiple occasions), telling Lofty how he felt would just be taking another one of those risks. As Essie walked away, leaving Dom in thought, she smiled (having given Dom the kickstart he needed), if she couldn’t have Raff she would smile knowing Dom and Lofty could have each other.

 

When Lofty came back from AAU after lunch he seemed tired, but still happy to be at work, he entered the ward with a big smile on his face as he greeted Dom and Essie. He left to the staff room to grab a cup of tea before starting work, and whilst he was gone Essie gave Dom a look, to suggest she thought during shift would be a good time to tell him; Dom understood her look immediately.

 

“Today? At work? Essie I can’t!”

 

“Think of it like it’s now or never.”

 

“What if he says no?”

 

“Then I promise to knock some sense into him.”

 

“How do I bring it up?”

 

“If today is the right day to tell him, the _universe_ will tell you.” Essie smiled, “There’ll be a moment where you two are alone and it’ll give you a great chance to tell him!”

 

“Ha, I shouldn’t worry. That’ll never happen!”

 

                                            

                                                     -----------------------------------------

 

It was happening.

 

The last thing Dom expected was for Lofty to sit next to him in the office chair at the desk. Essie had left to go grab lunch with Fletch, and she’d left Dom alone at the desk to do his work, under any other circumstance Dom would’ve loved Lofty sitting next to him. But given his previous conversation with Essie Dom couldn’t help be feel so _awkward._ As the hospital made it’s noises and buzzes and drones, the quiet click of Lofty’s computer mouse could be heard every now and then as he looked into background information and research. When Dom glanced at Lofty’s screen he saw it was in an entirely different language, but Lofty seemed quite intent with reading it (struggling, but intent). Dom smirked to himself as he saw Lofty stare hard into the screen, as if he was hoping the english translation would show up if he looked hard enough.

 

“How are you reading that?” Asked Dom eventually.

 

“With great difficulty.”

 

“Just use Google translate.”

 

“Google translate is useless. Besides, I want to figure at least some of it out on my own.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“It’s my patient’s blog. She’s French and collapsed on holiday here. Her illness has been around for a while so I’m hoping that she’s given me clues as to what’s wrong with her in this blog.”

 

“She won’t tell you?”

 

“She’s adamant she’s fine.”

 

“Well maybe she is.”

 

“And maybe she isn’t. Dom I can see she’s hiding something. I can tell, I know what she’s doing. Just let me at least try?”

 

“Of course love- Lofty.” Dom was quick to correct himself, but Lofty had already heard what Dom wanted to say, he looked up from the computer and into Dom’s eyes, the Registrar could see a hint of sadness glazing Lofty’s expression, subtle but still there. It hurt Dom to see Lofty looking so sad, even if he didn’t fully understand why. He thought he maybe have made Lofty uncomfortable but the last thing he expected was for him to be sad. The whole time Lofty looked into Dom’s eyes, Dom looked straight back, eventually taking a deep breath in before speaking.

 

“Lofty. There’s something I need to tell you.”

 

“Y-yeah. Go on?”

 

“The truth is, that I have feelings for you.”

 

Dead silence.

 

For a brief moment Dom saw Lofty’s mouth curl into a smile, but a split second later it turned into another sad look, which only confused Dom more as he anxiously waited Lofty’s response. It seemed Lofty would never respond, till he eventually opened his mouth to speak:

 

“Dom… I don't know what to say. I, I think I need to go now? Just be alone for a bit, to think.” Said Lofty before getting out of his chair and walking away.

 

The rest of the shift was spent with Lofty and Dom looking sad, and Essie extremely confused - especially after Dom explained to her what happened. She was so sure Lofty like Dom back, so why did he say no? By the end of the shift Dom looked very upset, and as he left the changing room back in his own clothes, he was ready to just go home and drink wine.

 

“You alright love?” Asked Essie as Dom walked over to the desk to greet her goodnight. New Year’s Eve was only ten minutes away from ending, yet he looked far from happy or festive.

 

“Nope, tired, lonely, heartbroken. I’m off home for some wine and an after eight sandwich.”

 

“They don’t work.” Smiled Essie.

 

“Nothing seems to work for me nowadays.” Smiled Dom sadly, “I’m off then, good night Essie.”

 

“Good night Dom.”

 

Five minutes after Dom had left, Lofty arrived at the desk ready to go home too. He’d gotten changed in another changing room so he hadn't seen Dom leave. When he arrived at the desk upset Essie was far from willing to let him off easy:

 

“Hiya Essie, you staying late?”

 

“Lofty what do you think you’re doing?”

 

“Going… Home?” Answered Lofty.

 

“Don’t play dumb you know I’m talking about Dom. You've hurt him.”

 

“He’s probably confused. He doesn’t really mean it, he’ll realise what he’s said in the morning, he’ll tell me it's a mistake.”

 

“Right. So what’s your real excuse?”

 

“That is my-”

 

“Lofty don’t lie to me.”

 

Lofty looked at Essie for a long while before giving in, “I’m scared.”

 

“Why are you scared?”

 

“I don’t want to hurt him. Or for us to get together only for him to wake up one day and realise he can do better.”

 

“You’re scared of losing him because you don't want to be alone?”

 

“I’m scared of losing him because I _love_ him Essie.”

 

“Then tell him, you know he likes you back.”

 

“He can do better. He deserves better.”

 

“Really? And what are you gonna do when he finds a boyfriend? Be okay with it? Let it happen? Because that's certainly not what you did when it came to Freddie.” Essie saw Lofty wasn’t going to argue against her point, he knew she was right, “Lofty you're a nice guy... I lost the person I love through no fault of my own, don’t lose yours because of a choice _you_ made.”

 

The realisation of what he was doing by rejecting Dom hit Lofty like a bolt of lightning, but it didn’t leave him with the tingle of electricity he usually got from Dom - it left a surge of guilt and regret running through him. He looked at Essie, and silently thanked her, before he ran out of the hospital to find Dom; he sprinted as fast and hard as his legs would allow, he didn’t give himself a chance to break or stop to catch his breath. He dodged carts and trollies as he ran though and out of the hospital, when he did so he stopped in one place and spun a full circle to see where Dom was. When he couldn't see Dom he ran his fingers through his hair, in a last ditch effort to see if Dom hadn’t left yet Lofty disregarded his social do’s and don’ts:

 

“Dom!” He yelled loudly, “Please! There’s something I need to tell you.”

 

Out of the corner of his eye Lofty saw a Hackney cab come to a quick halt, like it’d only just started driving away when it slammed on the brakes. Lofty made his way over, his nerves making his heart pound like a drum, a sense of hope and relief washed over him when he saw Dom was in fact in the passenger seat.

 

“Dom, thank God, I need to tell you something.”

 

“What is it Lofty?” Asked Dom, he didn’t make eye contact with Lofty, instead he just looked straight ahead, only recognising Lofty’s arrival with his words.

 

“I, I’m sorry for how I reacted earlier. I shouldn't have done that.” Said Lofty, he wanted to kick himself for those words, even he knew that wasn’t what he wanted to say.

 

“Is that it?”

 

“No, no it’s not. Dom, I don’t know how you’ll react, especially after what I did to you today, but I still have feelings for you. I really really like you.”

 

Dom didn’t react he didn’t look at Lofty, he did nothing to make Lofty think Dom was going to have a positive response, Lofty sighed away the urge to cry and out on a smile, “I’m sorry.”

 

Lofty turned to walk away, and just as did so he heard the gentle opening of the Hackney door alongside Dom’s voice:

 

“The thing is…”

 

Lofty turned around to face Dom again, as he did so he saw Dom getting closer and closer to him.

 

“I…”

 

Lofty closed his eyes as Dom kissed him, he wanted to savour the moment, he wanted to cherish every second he had with Dom, and he did so by closing his eyes. He allowed the moment to stay, letting the kiss grow sweeter, when Dom eventually pulled away Lofty looked into Dom’s eyes - hope lining his every facial feature.

 

“I really like you too.” Said Dom, smiling, relieved that his own feelings for Lofty hadn’t been in vain.

 

“Thank God for that.” Smiled Lofty, laughing slightly.

 

“But what about the universe?”

 

“I don’t care what the universe thinks. I care about you. I won’t let anything get in the way of that anymore.” Replied Lofty, confidently and without hesitation.

 

“Would you like to take what we have further? Like, date?” Asked Dom, still holding on to the sleeve cuff of Lofty’s jacket.

 

“I’d really like that.”

 

“Me too.”

 

“So, does that make us…” Lofty started the sentence, but he didn’t want to finish it incase he ended up jumping the gun.

 

“Boyfriends?” Offered Dom, Lofty nodded his head and Dom smiled an even bigger grin, “Definitely.”

 

As Dom spoke, a notification on his phone went off, telling him it was midnight and that the new year had begun, he looked up from his phone and showed Lofty the screen, the nurse smiled as he realised what the time meant.

 

“Well that’s good timing.”

 

“Very.”

 

“Almost as if it was-”

 

“Fate.” Said Dom, finishing Lofty’s sentence.

 

“Dom, it’d be rude if we ignored tradition.”

 

Wanting to tease, Dom replied, “And what tradition is that?”

 

Dom thought Lofty would get really embarrassed, so he was surprised by Lofty’s actual reaction. He was blushing from Dom’s words, but apart from that he was happy and confident in his own: “I think you know what.” He said with a smile as he cupped the side of Dom’s face with his hand. The Registrar, despite the cold, felt himself melt at Lofty’s words, and at Lofty’s kiss. Eventually the pair pulled away from each other, the winter cold biting at their noses and cheeks, it was Dom who suggested they go back to his place, and it was Lofty who happily agreed. They certainly hadn’t had the smoothest start in their relationship (nothing but fits and starts and failed opportunities), but now they were together the pair fell fully confident that they would make it last, that they would make it work. With with that fact safely in their minds, the pair knew they’d stay together, even if the Universe wanted otherwise. Because all they knew they needed was each other.


End file.
